Comics on DVD-ROM

Specifically, 40 Years of the Avengers, which arrived today. This has got to be the coolest thing since ever. I don't know what I like best--reading the older ones for the very first time (including the ads for Sea Monkeys or Charles Atlas), or rereading childhood favorites I'm too lazy to dig out of the longboxes (and just why did the Avengers ever think it was a good idea to invite Dr. Druid to join in the first place?) , or filling in the gaps from the last few times (once in the 80s, once for most of the 90s) I gave up on comics.

These are amazing. Not something I'm going to sit down and read through, because my eyes just aren't that good anymore. And because reading a lot of older comics one after the other wears on the brain because they are so episodic, and there's a lot of reiteration of particular points, including just why these people are so filled with anguish. The Marvel Essentials books, for example--I've got them for Iron Man and for Captain America, and damn! You probably don't notice it, reading a book a month, but read them all at once and you're smacked over the head with Tony Stark's misery at being unable to have a relationship because he's stuck in his armor (and come to think of it, just how did he manage to casually date all those women without ever taking off his shirt? --the 60s were a more innocent time, to be sure) or Captain America's overriding guilt concerning Bucky and subsequent fear of anything happening to Sharon (at one point he insisted that she take a desk job--and she agreed!--unbelievable!). Nothing wrong with either theme per se, of course, but I guess I've gotten used to the modern tendency toward multi-issue story arcs..

But 40 Years of the Avengers? Definitely a good buy. Although the navigation is not optimal, and I'd love to see some sort of indexing system, maybe a linkable list of different team members' appearances? But you can't have everything.